Staff Profile – Harriet H
31 October 2025
Get to know Harriet H, one of our booksellers
Harriet H is one of our booksellers. She is a huge lover of all things odd, a particular fan of Stephen King, and Russian History, her reading is one of the most varied at the shop. Her three picks for desert island reads are; Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart and A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride.
I’m starting with my favourite author, the master, James Baldwin. Baldwin is recognised as one of the best American authors of all time and I still consider him to be underrated. I could have chosen all three books from his canon but that feels like cheating. I’ve settled on Giovanni’s Room. Set in Paris where Baldwin spent many years, the desires and destruction of the central characters because of their sexuality is epitomised by Giovanni’s claustrophobic room. Our narrator, David, is on the edge of liberation or tragedy, much like many of Baldwin’s characters. The line “the wind of my life was blowing me away” captures a frustration I think we have all shared. (Special shout out to Baldwin’s collection of short stories Going To Meet The Man. Cheating, sorry!)
I have also chosen Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart as I think it is a perfect novel. As soon as I finished it, I turned back to the first page and started it again. A coming-of-age story about a boy in working class Glasgow that will hit you like a tonne of bricks. Each character in this book will evoke strong feelings within you, whether its pity, loathing or adoration. Winner of the 2020 Booker Prize, Shuggie Bain will always be relevant and exceptional. I know I could read this book a thousand times and I would never find it less moving than the first time I read it.
Finally, I have chosen A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride. This book is about as far from an easy read as you can get, but the idea of a ‘holiday read’ while stranded on a desert island seems too obvious. A Girl is a Half-formed Thing is immediately uncomfortable as you are immersed in our unnamed protagonists’ thoughts. Her brother is very unwell, her mother seems to detest her, and she is mistreated by almost all the men in her life. Initially, the writing is fragmented and confusing, as you are reading a young child’s stream of consciousness; as she grows up, she can better express her thoughts, but this doesn’t offer the reader much relief. This novel is truly one of a kind and McBride is nothing short of a genius.